Station-indicator.



H. C. WALLACE.

STATION INDICATOR.

gPPLmATmN FILED FEB.Z6,1907.

' 922,984, Patented May 25, 1909. v p l 2 SHEETSBHEBT 1.

Arrokwkrs STATION INDICATOR.

APPLICATION FILED FEE.26,1907.

Patented May 25, 1909. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTO/i #Voweadfillace W/T/VESSES' ATTORNEYS ES (IRQWELL WALLAl'tE,

PATENT ()FFIUE.

OF SALT LAKE CITY, ti'lAll.

STATION-INDICATOR.

. Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 25, 1909.

Application filed February 26, 1907; Serial No. 359,412.

To all whom. it may (m ce-m:

Be it known that I, llowns C. W AnLAon, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Salt Lake City, in the county of Salt Lake and Stateof Utah, have invented. a

now and Improved Station-Indicator, of which tho. following is a full,clear, and

oxaot description.

My invontion relates to station indicators of the gonoral type shown anddescribed in my latont No. 832.6%, of October 9, 1906.

The more particular objects of my improven'ionl's aro to provide thodisplay lneohan ul With ,inoans whereby it may be operalod olootrioallyby tho oar condurlor or other taininan.

My invontion t'nrthor rolatos to cortain dotails of construction,whereby the gonoral ottioionoy of the indicator lsnloroasod.

loforonoo is to be had to the zit-companying drawings forming a part ofthis spooifiration, in which similar oharaotors oi referonoo indioatooorrosponding parts in all tho. I

liguros.

l iguro 1 is a. front.- oloralion of tho indivalor (-oinplot'o andshowing at the right the olortrioal lneohanism whoroby it is aotnatod; 1

Fig. 2 is a sido. olovation ot'tho dovico as it would appear to anobsorvor stationed to tho. right. oi Fig. l this viow shows,)a.1.'tioularly tho oloolrio switch and tho ratohot,

moohanism oontrollablo thereby for actual: ing tho movablo ourtain stopby step; Fig. 3 is a diagram of tho wiring of the systom as appliod to acar; Fig. 4' is an onlargod tragmonlary soot-ion showing solonoids,gearing and oloolrlo swilrh. as connootod roady tor 'uso: Fig. 5 is asido olovallon oi the armaluro showing ils two magnotio portionsoonuootod togothor by a. nonmagnotio portion,

and also showing diagrannnatioally tho. solonoids; Fig. (i is afragmentary olovat-ion showing tho rlulrh mechanism and partsimmodialoly assooiatod therewith; Fig. 7 is a 'lfi'zigiuonlar)porspootiro now showing tho lho samo.

'lhol'ramo 5 is providod Will] an olootrio boil (5 whioh may havo anydosirod numbor 1 similar solonoid l7. snap swilrh and star whool lorartualing purpose of oxorting a gonllo lonsion upon it so as to proronlit. from turning too frooly. This reel is provided with a rorolnbloshaft oxlonding axially through it. number of rollors 1], l2, 1;), 14.15, ll' oxtond ontirol} aoross tho franiowork. .\nothor rool l? isniountod in the lowor part of tho 't'raniowork. A friction spring l8prossos upon this root in liho mania.- as the spring 10 presses upon thorool E and for tho samo purpose. A band 19 of (loth or papor is adaptoclto ho. wound upon tho rools 9 and l? and to bo translorrod from tho'li'ornior to tho. lattor, or tho l'ovorso, as tho rools are turned.This band is providod with intelligible legends 20. as indioatodin Fig..1. I

(lutrh lorhs :30. ll aro oonnoolod with an arm 2:2 whoroby thoy may boartnatod' and aro supportod upon a braohot 22. 'lhoso rluloh forks arotor lho'purposo of throwing tho rools into and out of aotionat will.'lho band lt is proridod with motallio oyolots 33 and tho latlor arodisposod in tho saino vortion] pb'lno as tho star whool 24- whioh ismountod upon a shaft 24. the latter being 5 oonnootodwithasnapswitoh Theeyelots aro adaptod to bo ongagod by the points of tho star whool insuoh mannol' that tho travel of tho band it oauses tho star whool toturn i stop by stop. 'lho snap switrh is of a welli known kind and'oompl'isos ('Ollltlll-lll0llll)(lfH 2+". 24". a ooutaol arm-2+ and aspring 24. The rotation of tho star whool Z-l plaros tho spring Q-l"undor tonsion, and when suoh tonsion orooods a pro lolorminod limit. thooontart arm roloasos ono oi tho routarl mombors and ongagos lho olhoroontaol arm normally resting upon ono or tho othor o1 thoso (oillartmombors and boing in motion \vhonoror it disongagos oithor oonlaotmombor. A stay rod 2:) oxlonds onlirely across tho frame and sorros tobraoo and strongthon tho latter.

Mouulod in tho uppor part of tho framo is a solonoid 2t; and n tho loworpart is a A solonoid core 28 is partly im-losod by tho two solonoids.This ('ol'o is of oomposilo sl ruriuro. its middle portion boing oiuon-magnot-io material. such as brass. whilo its upper and lowor ondsare of soil. iron. 'lho idea is that the solonoid'ilfi shall art uponlho upper portion of tho coro port ion of it. tho out-ire action uponthe core as a wholo being analogous to that; which would take place itthere were only a single (-oro of soft iron and a solonoid:torattractgreater, owing to the fact that both cores are attractedatthe same time. Extending laterally from the core 28 and securedrigidly thereto is a post 29 carrying at its outer end a pin 30, andupon this pm is mounted a disk or washer 31. An electric switch is shownat 32 and is provided with a switch arm terminating at one 0t its ends.111 a link 34 havmga slot This slot is of sutlicient width to permitlost motion between the linlt 34 and the pin 30; that is to say, thewidth of the slot 35 is suflicient to prevent the pin 30 from strikingthe side walls of the slot or from a'ii'ecting the link 34 in any othermanner than by engaging this link at the ends of the slot.

The switch arm is held upon the switch with sufiicicnt tightness toprevent the switch arm from dropping because of itsown weight. In otherwords, the switch arm 33 normally stays in any position in which it isleft, until it is moved positively by the pin 30. The switch 32 isprovided with a live contact point 86and with a dead contact point 37,as will be understood from Fig. 3. A rack bar 38 is connected with thecore 28 and engages a gear 39. Mounted upon the latter is a pawl 40 andspring 41, the pawl beingpressed by the spring into engagement with-aratchet wheel 42. The ratchet whcel 42 is arranged upon a revolubleshaft 43, and

fixed upon this shaft is a ear 44 meshing with a gear 45 upon the shai t11*, and a gear '46 upon a shaft 47. The rotation of the gears 45, 46causes the rotation of the reels At 48 (see g. 3) is shown atrolley wirefor supplying the system with power. At 49 is the trolley of the carupon which the indielectric bell (3 and from the latter wires 53,

54 lead to the switch 55 which is operated by the star wheel 24. A wire56 "is connected with the wires 53, 54 and also connected with thesolenoid 27, which is connected by a wire 30 with the live contact point36. The switch arm 33 is connected by a wire 28* with the solenoid 26.From the snap switch 55 Wires 57, 58 lead to a hand switch This switchhas a dead point 59 and is connected with a wire 60 which is grounded.Wires 61, (32 are connected with wires 57, 5S and lead to another handswitch (33 similar to the hand switch 59. The switch (33 is providedwith a dead point 63, and also with a ground connection 64. I

The purpose of the snap switch 55 is to enable the travel of the band 19to control the electric current through the solenoids 26,

switch arm 24*, being in engagement with.

a contact point 24 or 24*, as the case may be, will not leave the sameuntil the tension of the spring 24 becomes suflicient to dislodge theswitch arm, and when this occurs the switch arm snaps abruptly from oneof the contact points to the other. As shown in the drawings, the band19 travels a sufiicient distance for two successive eyelets to engagethe star wheel 24 in order to dislodge the switch arm 24, and when thisoccurs the switch arm makes a half revolution. The friction of theswitch arm 24 upon either of the contact points 24*, 24 is suflicicnt toprevent the switch arm from turning, except when the spring 24 acquiresthe degree of tension above mentioned.

The hand switches 59, 63 are used independently. \Vhen one is in use,the other is so arranged that the circuit to the ground wire is open.For instance, in Fig. 3, by aid of the switch 63 the ground wire 64 istotally disconnected from the wires 61, 62. This is because the switch59 is being used. If, after reaching the end of the ride and startingback, it be desired to use the switch 63 instead of the switch 59, thelatter is moved into such position as to disconnect the wires 57, 58from the ground wire 60.

My purpose in providing the switches 63 and 59 is to enable theconductor or other trainmen to control the device from either end of thecar. The Switches 63' and 59 may, however, if desired, be located at anypoints intermediate of the ends of the car. The snap switch 55 iscontrolled by rota tion of the star wheel 24 and this star wheel isturned step by step by aid of the eyelets 28 as the band 19 moves along.The parts are so proportioned and the legends 20 20 are so spaced uponthe band, that each successive position of the snap. switch 55 leavestwo legends exposed to view, as indicated in Fig. 1. The wires 58, 02have an oflice similar to that of the wires 57, 6l, and serve to conveythe currents approximately half of the time; when the snap switchoccupies the position indicated in Fig. 3, so that the current isfiowing through the wire 57 and switch 59, the wire 58 is, of course,idle. It remains idle even after the snap switch moves into its contraryposition, but in this event the operator, by throwing the, switch 59into its contrary position, may complete the circuit.

The operator, by watching the successive legends as they appear, andlearning which E of them areassociated with one position of l the snapswitch 15, and which of them are I displayed.

'' 40 the clutch arm 22.

. associated with the opposite position of this snap switch, may, byproperly manipulating [the switch 59, ace the system in such conditionthat a particular legend 20 will be c In manipulating the switch 59 itis obvious that he may sometimes use the wire 57 and sometimes the wire58. It is equally obvious that when he is at the opposite endof the-car,and consequently using the switch 63he may sometimes employ the wire 61and sometimes the wire 62.

i The operation of my device is as follows:

lVhenever the car approaches a street or station, the conductor or thetrainman closes the circuit by one of the hand switches 59 or 63. If,for instance, the car is going in one direction, the switch used forthis plus poseis 59, As the train nears the station,

, the conductor turns this switch into the position shown in Fig. 3, andthe following -.circuit is then.completed: Trolley wire 48,

trolley 49, safety cut-out 51, to wire 50, ,whence the' current dividesand a part passes through wire 52, bell 6 and wire 53,

- whileanother part passes through solenoid i1'e 28, switch arm 33-,contact button 36,i\vire solenoid 27, wire 56, uniting with the currentfrom wire 53, thence 3 through wire 54, switch 55, wire 57, switch59",w1re-60 to grcvnnd, This energizes the noids 26, 27 and attracts thecore 28, and ,the rack bar 38 thereupon rises and turns the gear 39. Thepawl- 4;0 engages the 3 ratchet wheel 42 and turns it, together with theshaft 43 and gear is. The latter causes the reels to rotate and the band19to move, thedirection of such movement being governed by the clutchforks 20, 21'actuated by The core 28, having reached a point just alittle below its uppermost position, the pin 30 lodges against the link34 at the upper end of the slot 35, and turns the switch arm 38 from itsposition indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 4:, to its position indicatedby full lines in'said figure.

4 This removes the switch arm from the live I contact point 36 andplaces it upon the dead contact point 37. The circuit is now open it{and consequently both solenoids" are do energi'zed. The core 28 dropsby its own weight. When it reaches such position, the pin lodges againstthe link 34 at the bottom of the slot 35. The weight and momen- '55 tumofthe core cause the switch arm 33 to turn into the position indicatedby'dotted' linesin this figure. This completes the circuit again, thecore again rises, the revovluble parts are actuated a second time, the,circuitis again broken, the core again name of that station. Theswitches 59 and (33 are used independently, the switch 59'being employedwhen the cartravels ind-one direction and the switch 63 being used whenthe car travels innthe opposite directiomf W hen oneof these switches isbeing used the other is thrown out of action by isc0nmeeting the switcharm from both of its contact points or by removing the switch en'-tirely, as desired.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim as new and desire to secureby Lettors Patent: V

l. A stat-ion indicator, comprising a plu rality of reels, a stripprovided with a series of indicating legends, said strip being providedat intervals with'eyelets, a gear Wheel for each of said reels; anintermediate gear wheel meshing with the other gear wheels so to actuatethe same, a solenoid, a core movable relatively to said solenoid, arackin connection with said core, a gear wheel meshing with said rack,connections from said last-mentioned gear wheel to'said intermediategear wheel, a swltcho erated' by the solenoid, a star wheel providedwith 5 1 arms adapted to be turned by said eyelets,-

an electric circuit in connection withsaid solenoid, a switch forclosing said circuit, and means operated by said'star wheelfor breakingsaid circuit.

2. A station indicator comprising a plu- -rality of reels, a strip.provided at spaced intervals with indicatmg legends and with eyelets, asolenoid, a core within the solenoid, a connection between the core andthe reels, whereby the movement of said core will rotate said reels, astar wheel whose arms'are' adapt-ed for engagement by the eyelets, so astoturn said star wheel, an electric circuit in connection with thesolenoid, a manuallyoperated switch for closing the circuit, and meanswhereby the star wheel may open said circuit.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

HOVVES CROWELL VVKLLACE.

lVitnesses: t

l). S. LA-NIN'cToN, l6. FOWLER.

